The Voorhees Police Department provides 24/7 around the clock protection to the residents, businesses, students, and visitors in Voorhees Township. Our Patrol Bureau platoons are made up of a sergeant and patrol officers. Patrol Officers receive additional resources to assist them in handling certain types of calls for service requiring advanced equipment and officers with training in a specialized discipline. The special units include K-9, Traffic/Crash Investigation, Criminal Investigations, Crime Scene Investigation, Training, and Community Affairs/School Security.
The Traffic Unit enforces traffic laws, investigates accidents, and analyzes traffic crash data to identify problem areas and solutions by working closely with Traffic Engineering. The Unit also answers and responds to citizen concerns related to vehicular traffic.
The Canine Unit works regular uniform patrol and responds to all types of calls for service including burglaries, alarms, crimes in progress, etc. They perform vehicle searches, and track suspects and/or articles of evidentiary value. They track and detect suspects, narcotics, and missing persons in Voorhees and neighboring towns. Canine teams also participate in many civic functions and educational demonstrations.
The Voorhees Police Department Bike Patrol has been in existence since 1994. The Bike Patrol’s purpose is to allow officers to be more approachable as they patrol the community. Officers on Bike Patrol maintain equipment including emergency lights and sirens. The Bike Patrol officers are part of the Department’s community policing philosophy. In addition to the patrolling of neighborhoods, the Bike Patrol is often deployed to assist at Voorhees community events.
The Voorhees Police Department is a leader in the State of New Jersey in terms of school security. The VPD School Security Program places armed class II law enforcement officers in all of our Township schools, as well as a full-time school resource officer at Eastern High School. This serves as an additional layer of protection for the students, staff, and visitors of our schools. In addition to ensuring a safe environment for the education of our community’s most valuable asset, the school officers are meant to serve as role models and mentors to the children at our schools. School officers participate in lockdown and evacuation drills, routinely check existing security measures, and recommend changes or enhancements to existing security protocols based on their law enforcement experience.
The Firearms Training Unit delivers proven, high-quality, and legally defensible training in marksmanship, gun handling, tactics, mindset, and the legal use of lethal force to the sworn members of the Voorhees Police Department.
All training is designed to teach officers to survive deadly-force encounters while simultaneously protecting the community and preserving citizens’ civil rights.
Firearms Training Unit instruction is fully integrated with other skill areas of police work, such as emergency vehicle operation, patrol tactics, and defensive tactics, to give officerss all the force options and tools needed to successfully accomplish their assignments.
Candidates are required to attend a New Jersey Police Training Commission (PTC) certified Basic Course for Police Officers in order to be appointed as a Voorhees Police Officer.
To learn more about the curriculum see the attached link: http://www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/njptc/trainee.htm
Training does not stop after the police academy, in fact it continues throughout an officer’s entire career. Once a recruit completes a PTC academy, they are assigned to a certified field training officer for an intensive 500 hour (minimum amount of hours) training and evaluation program. The new officer is paired with a veteran officer who will train them in the specific policies and operating procedures of the Voorhees Police Department. The recruit officer must pass this program to maintain employment with the Voorhees Police Department.
VPD Officers receive mandatory training twice a year in firearms, our use of force policy, and our vehicle pursuit policy. Annual training includes domestic violence, hazardous materials, blood borne pathogens, and right to know. In addition to the aforementioned classes, VPD officers receive training on various topics throughout the year at academies, other agencies, and in-house whether at roll call or through a class presented in our state of the art training center.
The Voorhees Police Department maintains a strong online presence through Facebook, Twitter, Nixle, Nextdoor, GooglePlus, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. In addition to this website, we realize other platforms are used by our residents, visitors, and business community to access information or contact our agency. We utilize these social media outlets to disseminate information to our service population in an effective and efficient manner. We remind citizens to contact us via phone at 9-1-1 for emergencies or via phone at 856-428-5400 for non-emergencies. Our social media platforms are not monitored 24/7, and should not be treated as an avenue to request police services.
Under a newly revised statute, the power of humane law enforcement was transferred from the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) to the individual municipalities, who work in conjunction with, and are ultimately overseen by, the County Prosecutors.
A municipal humane law enforcement officer shall have the power and authority within the municipality in which the officer is designated, or otherwise authorized to act, as a municipal humane law enforcement officer to:
Each municipality and police department is now required to designate a Municipal Humane Law Enforcement Officer. In order to hold the position of Humane Law Enforcement Officer, all of these newly designated police officers and county investigators must now be certified by the Police Training Commission (PTC). Detective Chase Waldman, Detective Jonah Randazzo and Investigator Kody Smith have been certified by the PTC as the Municipal Humane Law Enforcement Officer for Voorhees Twp. and will be the points of contact for matters pertaining to the welfare of animals.
If you would like to report suspected abuse and/or cruelty to animals, please call 856-428-5400. If an animal is in imminent danger, please call 9-1-1. You will be asked to provide information; however, you can remain anonymous if you wish.
Contact our Humane Law Enforcement Officers
Detective Chase Waldman
(856) 627-5858 x1102
Email cwaldman@vtpd.com
Detective Jonah Randazzo
(856) 627-5858 x 1137
Email jrandazzo@vtpd.com
Investigator Kody Smith
(856) 627-5858 x1106
Email ksmith@vtpd.com
